Where Lies True Magic
by themightypenandsword
Summary: Magic needs not be that of myths and legends of old. After all, true magic comes from the heart. Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges Forum's "The Summer 2013 Wizarding Modly Forum-Wide Comp of Awesomeness" entry.


Erm, hello, themightypenandsword here, House Hufflepuff. My wand is still in the works I believe. This is my submission for the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenge Forum's Summer 2013 Wizarding Modly Forum-Wide Competition of Awesomeness. It's late, and I apologize.

Challenge: You enter your History of Magic class and sit down, already dreading Professor Scrunchy's dull teaching. It's too cold to fall asleep in class today, so you...

c. Actually pay attention to the material? Wow, okay. Write about a moment - its build up, as it happened, its effects, anything to do with the moment - that could have or did go down in history. Anything from Dumbledore and Grindelwald's final duel to "And that was the day that James and the Giant Squid went to the Ball together" is welcome. Stipulation: write from at least two perspectives. Historical accounts must be corroborated to be seen as credible. Extra stipulation: as paying attention is so difficult, you'll also need to include at least four of the ten following prompts: sent, century, grand, war, facts, pain, save, end of an era, dry, "Kill me now.

It's my first story here, so I'm not sure how well I did. The multiple perspectives, if they weren't clear, were that of Magical Britain as a whole, presented through the book and Harry/Ginny's descriptions, and their personal points of view. I don't know how well I pulled off the time stamps either... I'd like my full score from here on out, thanks.

Enough rambling; enjoy.

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_**11:03 AM, May 2**__**nd**__**, 2015**_

_-and thus, was the end of a dark, war -filled era. The Battle for Hogwarts saw the defeat of the Dark Lord Voldemort at the hands of The-Man-Who-Conquered, at the price of many deaths and much destruction being wrought upon Britain's premier magical academic institution, which will be discussed in detail later on in this chapter. But this is the reason for which the Second of May is a national holiday-_

Harry quietly closed the book, setting it to the side as he rubbed his eyes. Ginny shot him a mildly worried look, while their three children watched their father with curious eyes.

The man sighed as he looked at the three of them. "You asked why we don't celebrate like everybody else?"

Three quick nods answered him.

Harry wondered how he was going to answer that question without scaring the children, before remembering himself being denied answers to his questions about himself at every turn. Perhaps his old headmaster had been trying to preserve what had been left of his childhood, but it really had only made things worse.

Seeing him in thought, Ginny understood herself what her husband was struggling with. How were they to explain the brutality and suffering of war that they'd seen to their children who'd only been presented with the view of the rest of Magical Britain, who'd only seen the happy end to the events of the past two decades?

"It's a long story," Ginny stated evenly, gazing at her children. "Why don't we have lunch before we do that? Everything is in the fridge; James, Albus, be a dear and get it ready for everyone?"

Albus looked to be on the verge of protesting, but understanding lit up in James' eyes. "Okay Mum. C'mon Albus. Lily, you can help us."

Dragging his brother and sister out of the room, the two parents were left alone.

Harry shot his wife a grateful look. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

A quiet laugh escaped her as she leaned over to kiss him. "Not today. But first, let's figure out how we're going to do this."

_**1:37 PM, May 2**__**nd**__**, 2015**_

Settled around the sitting room armchairs in front of the dormant fireplace, Harry began the explanation.

"You all know from the history books why today is a holiday, as it was the end of the Second Wizarding War. Most people take it as that, don't bother to think about it, and spend the day celebrating the fall of Voldemort and the peace that resulted from his defeat. But they don't realize the pain that so many others went through to take Voldemort down. They don't realize that the Wizarding World lost many good people to one madman, people that didn't have to die."

He stopped then, and seeing his green eyes clouding over with old memories, Ginny carried on explaining, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "In the books, they tell you about the facts about the war, the battles that were fought and those who fought. But they don't tell you about the people. We knew many of those people, and many of our friends knew them as well. This is why we don't celebrate like the others, with drinks and fireworks. We use this day to remember those who died, some of them saving us, some of them saving others, and some just dying. The reason we usually send you to Andromedea on this day after lunch is because we usually go and visit them. "

Stepping over to a shelf, she pulled a photo book from it and handed it to the three children. They flipped it open to find pictures of a multitude of people waving, talking silently, and laughing.

"These are some pictures of those who died in the war. This," she pointed at a grinning man with long dark hair, "was Sirius Black, and your dad's Godfather. These two," a couple; one a tired looking man and one a woman whose appearance was constantly changing, "were Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, though she preferred Tonks. Teddy Lupin is their son."

Eventually, Harry managed to gather himself enough to join in pointing out various former classmates and friends. If Ginny was leaning against him and the three children were crowding into him just a little bit, he didn't say anything.

After flipping through the last page and finishing the book, the family of five just sat in a contemplative quiet for a while, until Lily broke it.

"Mummy, Daddy, can I go with you to visit your friends?"

Both parents blinked, and blinked again when a synchronized, "Us too?" came from the two boys.

A warm smile spread over their mother's face and something lightened in their father's eyes.

"Of course."

_**4: 19 PM, May 2**__**nd**__**, 2015**_

"Here we are," announced Harry quietly as he pushed open the gate of the cemetery. "This is where most of those who fought with us have been laid to rest. Usually your mother and I go visit your uncle Fred first."

The three children merely nodded, knowing that their usual antics and energy were to be saved for later. There were here to meet and pay their respects to their parents' friends and family after all.

A look passed between Harry and Ginny, and they stepped in, Ginny leading the way. James, Albus and Lily trailed behind, quiet footsteps breaking the stillness of the graveyard. Soon, they arrived in front a tombstone, marked with the name _Fred Weasley._

When his children crouched down to introduce themselves to the late wizard, Harry thought, Ginny at his side, that for the first time in a long while, things were going to be alright.

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Word count: 959 words (disregarding lengthy AN)


End file.
